Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology

Fashion as an Act of Defiance in Mounia Meddour's "Papicha"

We are used to seeing the superficial side of fashion: grand fashion shows, celebrities sitting in the front row or influencers taking selfies boasting about a collaboration, purchase or gift from a luxury house. Yet fashion can be used for different purposes and, in Mounia Meddour's film "Papicha" it becomes a way for the main character to fight misogyny and religious extremism.

Meaning in Algerian slang, "cool", "hip", "pretty" or "rebel" girl, "Papicha" follows the life of Nedjma (Lyna Khoudri), a student of French language and culture at Algiers University with a passion for fashion, and of her friends in the 1990s, when the country's civil war between government and Islamist militants was just starting.

When we first meet her at the beginning of the film, Nedjma, nicknamed Papicha, is sneaking out of her university dorm with her friend Wassila (Shirine Boutella), to go out dancing. They get an illegal taxi, get rebuked by the driver as they change in the back while Technotronic's 1989 hit "Get Up (Before The Night Is Over)" plays in the background, and then get stopped by men with guns at a check point.

There is a first mini-runway show in the club toilets: Nedjma, who wants to wear what she wants and refuses to cover her hair, runs indeed her own independent business, selling dresses she makes on order in the ladies' room. The night seems to be a success, but, on their way back, they start seeing posters ordering women to cover up - "Sister, take care of your image or we will", they warn. Besides, the authorities spike the milk in the girls' university canteen with bromide that is supposed to suppress their "desires" and lecturers who speak French are attacked by extremists who disrupt their classes.

After tragedy strikes her family, Nedjma has a controversial idea: fashioning a collection from the traditional women's wrap or haik and organising a fashion show in the university halls of residence. Obviously, she will clash with Islamists and even buying her materials from the usual fabric shop, now under a new owner and selling "antibacterial" hijabs rather than beads, sequins and colourful fabric, will become more difficult. Nedjma will show an extraordinary resilience to the blows life deals to her, going through with her runway, until tragedy will strike again.

Algerian Meddour plays with contrasts in this semi-autobiographical story (as a student she lived in an all-female university dormitory similar to the one we see here, but the terrorist attack on the university campus is a fictional plot): the world she portrays is always suspended between traditions and modernity, from the clothes the girls wear to the music they listen to.

The camera contributes to give via close-ups showing Nedjma's hands pleating and folding fabrics a sort of tactile quality to the film and the director employs fashion to define her characters.

At the very beginning of the film we see the girls changing from casual clothes to their clubbing attires; Nedjma is often showed sketching in her notebooks, even while outside bombs are killing people, creating something beautiful and unique is indeed for the young woman a way to fight against the horror surrounding her; there's the loud mini runway in the ladies' toilets that deeply clashes with the silent preparation of the body of Nedjma's sister, Linda (Meryem Medjkane), murdered by an Islamist woman. There is a moment of feverish madness when Nedjma tries to wash off Linda's blood from the ivory haik her sister was given as a present, and then there's hope when she decides to dye it pink with beetroots dug from an orchard with her hands.

There is a another moment of fashion when Nedjma's mum shows her and Linda how unmarried and married women wear a haik, or how women who want to pass unnoticed wear it with only one eye visible or hold the fabric with their mouths so they can't speak. But the haik, as Nedjma and Linda's mother explains, was also used to smuggle guns and pass unnoticed in front of French troops. This domestic lesson about the haik becomes the main inspiration for Nedjma's final runway.

The fashion show is a way to protest for Nedjma and free herself and her friends from the constraints imposed by the men in their lives who would like them to be covered up and confined to their homes (even the boys Nedjma and Wassila meet in the club and who seem to be very modern, prove to have conservative views about women).

This event is also a tribute to her dead sister and an act of defiance and resistance, an empowering place where all Nedjma's friends celebrate not just her talent, but themselves - from romantic Wassila and Kahina (Zahra Manel Doumandji), who dreams of going to Canada on day, to hijab-wearing Samira (Amira Hilda Douaouda), who walk down the runway smiling and dancing as "Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamoze plays in the background.

Last but not least, the show is also a love letter to Algeria, as Nedjma loves her country and doesn't want to leave it (Meddour's family had to leave Algeria and, after death threats against her parents, they moved to France), and a way to look at the future in hope without dening the past.

There is a great architectural element in this film, something that could lead to a comparison with a film very different from this one, but that shares with "Papicha" some elements, dystopic fantasy movie "Paradise Hills" by Alice Waddington. Both the films deal with gender roles and in both the stories there is a sort of interaction between women and the spaces and buildings surrounding them.

In "Papicha" the exterior world is masculine and the interior spaces like the university dormitory where the show also takes place or Nedjma's mum's house are feminine. The city is therefore masculine and Nedjma crossing it in a taxi while she sketches in her notebook or walking through its busy streets with her head uncovered, is a way to mark her presence in a hostile environment.

It is not easy to define this film that was denied a release in Algeria last year (but it was the country's entry for best foreign film at the 92nd Academy Awards) it was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2019, won two French Césars and in August this year won the people's award at the Umbria Film Festival. Papicha is indeed a political film with some romantic tones and some tragic moments that revolves around a very contemporary theme, the condition of modern women and women's empowerment.

Maybe the composite nature of the movie was caused by the fact that it took five years to make it, so Meddour had the time to rethink some aspects and include more scenes in it, but the best thing about "Papicha" remains its raw energy, anger and fresh vitality (at times reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" - remember the sneaker, punk denim jacket and Michael Jackson badge scene?) and the stubborness of the young women portrayed in it.

"Papicha" is currently available to stream on Curzon Home Cinema.

Irenebrination Book Club: The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

We don't know what Autumn 2020 will bring us when it comes to the current Coronavirus pandemic, but, hoping to reach out to readers and entertain them a bit more with a new format, Irenebrination is launching a virtual Book Club.

The first book we will read is Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's Il gattopardo (The leopard). Quite a few fashion critics and designers often mention it as an influence and an inspiration, so it will be worth rediscovering it together.

Published in 1958, the story takes place in Sicily in 1860 at the time of Garibaldi's Redshirts' landing on the Sicilian coast and traces the end of the aristocracy represented by Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina.

As wealthy ex-peasant Don Calogero Sedara rises and the prince's nephew Tancredi marries Don Calogero's daughter Angelica, the prince learns that, in life, "everything needs to change, so that everything can stay the same".

The Book Club will allow us to look at the story, but, before the event takes place, you may also want to (re)watch Luchino Visconti's film. During the Book Club meeting we will talk about Tomasi di Lampedusa, Visconti, fashion, film costumes and the Sicilian cooking tradition and the dishes mentioned in the book. Besides, try to think about the "everything needs to change, so that everything can stay the same" mantra in connection with the times we are living in (and with the fashion industry...).

As further inspiration for the meeting, check previous posts about Luchino Visconti, his film and the costumes for this masterpiece and the fashion collections it inspired throughout the decades.

The first Irenebrination Book Club meeting will take place on Zoom on October 29th at 6.00 p.m. CET (so you have plenty of time to read the book). You can read the book (or watch the film) in its original language (Italian) or in translation, but the meeting will be in English. To register and receive the link to take part in the meeeting, write to the email address [email protected], sending your name and surname. As this is the first time we do it, the meeting will be open to max 12 people, so register as soon as possible. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The leopard!

Towards an Architecture of Solidarity for Vulnerable Groups: Costa Limay Sustentable

While the Venice Film Festival will kick off at the beginning of September despite the ongoing Coronavirus emergency, the 17th International Architecture Exhibition was postponed till 2021. Yet rescheduling the event is not such a bad idea as the extra year give us the chance to think about the new challenges architecture has been facing in the last few months and will be facing in future.

In March, while Italy was in a hard lockdown, we looked at projects revolving around the emergency. Yet, since then, the discussion has become wider, with debates and projects about climate change, social distancing and safe spaces for education and working pruposes. COVID-19 has also increased the divide in life chances between rich and poor, and this is another theme that architects should ponder about when thinking about buildings and housing projects.

There have actually been news about architectural projects with social aims that are not directly linked with Coronavirus and that may prove inspiring. One of them was launched by a Catholic nun based in Argentina, Mónica Astorga Cremona, 53, mother superior at the convent of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in the city of Neuquén. 

Known as "the nun of trans women", Cremona first started working with young people suffering from addiction or incarcerated and, in 2006, she met a young trans woman who explained her prostitution was the only job she could do. Gradually Cremona met more trans women and, when one of them revealed to her that she had a dream - dying in a clean bed because she worked the streets and knew she may have ended up in a hospital with dirty bedsheets - Cremona focused on a very special project that became possible three years ago. 

In 2017 the local authorities donated to Cremona's convent a piece of land and the nun thought about building a complex for 12 vulnerable trans women aged between 40 and 70 years old. The housing project was the result of a research that determined that a trans person in Neuquén has a life expectancy that does not exceed 45 years and those older than 56 represent 5%. The research showed how this group of women suffered rejections from their families, were discriminated, trapped into prostitution or had serious health problems caused by a variety of issues including silicone pumping.

The complex, built by the Instituto Provincial de Vivienda y Urbanismo (IPVU) in the Confluencia neighbourhood of the city with an investment of 27.6 million pesos (over 300,000 euros), opened last weekend. Costa Limay Sustentable consists of a two-storey building with six apartments of 40 square meters on each level.

Each flat is equipped with kitchen, bathroom and heating, and there is also a multipurpose hall, a 120 square meters space to be used for garden, recreation and parking.

Costa Limay Sustenable is not a shelter nor a trans home: residents do not have to pay a rent, but will have to comply with regulations to stay for life. Those who don't respect them get a warning and will have to vacate the flat after the third one. In case of death, their partners will have to move out as the deal is that only trans women can occupy the building.  

Cremona's hope while working on the project was giving the girls hope and an opportunity. Spirits were high when the project was finally launched, but Cremona had to fight for it and was also attacked by the locals for her work with trans women. She received instead the support of Pope Francis who wrote Cremona to let her know he prays for her and for her girls.

The nun hopes they will learn from this project and extend it in future to other vulnerable groups, such as single mothers. Yet this is a project of community architecture that could inspire architects not just locally, but on a global level.

Costa Limay Sustentable is indeed the first building of this kind in the world and it proves that functional and simple architectures that can improve the life of people (one of the women who moved into the building highlighted that the bathroom there is as big as the room she used to live in) are what we need to develop. Food for thought for the architects (and "starchitects" as well) out there. 

Storytelling with a 3D Digital Fashion Show: Hanifa's Pink Label Capsule Collection

Long before Covid-19 disrupted our lives and the schedule of fashion shows, Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba had started thinking about alternative ways to present the collections for her brand Hanifa and make sure that people who don't usually have access to her shows would have been able to get a seat in the front row.

Then Coronavirus came and she realised it would have been unfair to launch a proper collection, also considering the unstable financial situation of many consumers. So in May she decided to reunite her two ideas - reaching out to people all over the world and presenting them with a more compact collection - and she did so launching on Instagram TV a peculiar virtual show to present her Pink Label Capsule Collection.

The collection featured 6 designs, from casual to elegant, including the A line "Kinshasa" backless pleated mini-dress 2ith exaggerated sleeves, in a palette comprising vibrant shades of red, blue and yellow - a reference to the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a metaphor for pain, peace and hope - a curve-hugging maxi dress with ample pockets and side ruching, a denim jumpsuit and a floor-length silk Mái gown and mini-skirt with a digital print of the Congo River. 

The peculiar thing about this presentation was the fact that the designs were donned by invisible 3D models, but it was still possible to imagine how they would look on real bodies as the renderings of Anifa Mvuemba's designs were characterised by the shapes and silhouettes of the bodies of real women.

There was also an added value to the collection: before the show, the designer introduced her creations explaining how she conceived them as tributes to African seamstresses to make people feel empowered and prove that great things can come out of all sorts of places and countries.

Last but not least, the presentation also had an educational purpose as it touched upon the illegal Coltan (a mineral used as a capacitor in electronics like cell phones and laptops) mining processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), inviting consumers to think twice about what powers their technology and be aware of the harmful effects it has on the Congolese people and the environment (to this purpose the designer also did a T-shirt available on Hanifa's site; in partnership with As You Sow, 20% of this T-shirt will support initiatives against the illegal mining of Coltan).

Mvuemba started designing in 2011 and launched her business a year later, but it was only recently that she got more attention also thanks to this 3D difital runway.

So far Hanifa has won the support of celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Lizzo, Beyoncé and Zendaya, but Anifa Mvuemba seems more interested in winning the loyalty of ordinary customers and she is doing so offering her designs in a wide range of sizes going from XS to 2XL.

Fashion may not have all the answers and solutions to the many social issues of our times, but, as Mvuemba proved with her collection, it can still be part of the solution and also help raising awareness.  

Identity & Transformation in Multi-Layered, Multi-Cultural Environments: Atong Atem's "Self Portraits & Family Studies" @ Messums London

Clashing textures, contrasting prints and bright and bold colours: these are the three main visual elements that immediately strike you while looking at Atong Atem's photographs. Yet, there's more behind her images currently part of an exhibition at Messums in London (28 Cork Street; until 28th August, the images are part of the Emerging Talents programme at the gallery).

The Ethiopian born, South Sudanese Melbourne-based photographer and writer explores indeed through her images issues of identity. This is a topic she has confronted and tackled since she was a child: the artist arrived in Australia when she was six years old, after living as a young child in the Kakuma refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya, where her parents settled when they flew the second civil war in South Sudan.

Atem confronted therefore the issue of identity from a very young age and tried to find a medium to express her feelings and thoughts and to celebrate the way young immigrants combine their own background with the culture in which they grow up. After studying first architecture and then fine art at Sydney College of the Arts, Atem started analysing migrant narratives and postcolonial practices in the African diaspora through her photographs.

One of Atong Atem's inspirations remains sci-fi writer Octavia Butler, author of the "Patternist" (or Patternmaster) series (who focused in her novels on issues of identity and transformation), but her visual references come from vintage African studio photographers such as Seydou Keita, Malick Sidibé and Philip Kwame Apagya. The artist's Studio Series features indeed Atem's Melbourne-based friends, celebrating their culture and countries of origin in recreated environments similar to the settings of these iconic African photographers.

Atem fills these spaces with colours and prints, kitsch objects like plastic flowers and cheap vases (the artist is very much inspired by 1950s kitsch interiors) and reminds us that the people she portrays could be considered as living in a sort of liminal space, their identities suspended in an "in-between" state, between one nationality and the other. They are therefore the result of layered existences, again symbolised by those fabric panels layered in the background that create Atong Atem's maximalist aesthetic.

The people in her portraits take pride in their origins but they are open to other cultures as proved by the combination of traditional African clothes and headdresses, wax-print textiles and fabric panels in bold clashing colours and patterns or vintage styles from the '60s and the '70s (that their parents may have donned), mixed with Western inspirations (a denim jacket matched with a wax print dress for example). 

There are different elements in these pictures featuring the artist's friends and family members - storytelling, performance and costume - and they all contribute to create a fascinating narrative. 

In her celebratory self-portraits Atong Atem plays at transforming herself à la Cindy Sherman, looking like a benevolent and mighty goddess from a fantasy world, maybe from one of her beloved sci-fi stories: her face is often painted in bold shades like bright blue or aqua green, or decorated with golden stars, gems and pearls forming swirling arabesques on her skin.

These studies about her own identity could be conceived as representations of the strength and fierceness of the artist, who boldly stares at the camera, almost challenging the viewer.

Will we have to wait long to see a collaboration between Atong Atem and a fashion house? No, probably not: the artist already exhibited at Vogue Fashion Fair in Milan, so you can bet her maximalist aesthetic and her multi-layered and multi-cultural narratives will soon become an inspiration for some fashion designers out there. In the meantime, you can discover more about Atong Atem in this podcast that features an interview with her on Messums London site.

Image credits for this post

All images in this post by Atong Atem, Courtesy Messums London

Ego 2 , 2019
Ilford smooth pearl print
60 x 90 cm

Adut and Bigoa, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
84.1 x 59.4 cm

Adut, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
59.4 x 84.1 cm

Ajok, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
59.4 x 84.1 cm

Akuot, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
84.1 x 59.4 cm

Self Portrait in Gingham no.2, 2019
Ilford smooth pearl print
90 x 63.57 cm

Dit, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
59.4 x 84.1 cm

Morayo, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
84.1 x 59.4 cm

Paanda, 2015
Ilford Smooth Pearl Print
84.1 x 59.4 cm

Self Portrait with Pearls, 2019
Ilford smooth pearl print
90 x 60.31 cm

Will Fearless Change in the U.S. Run on Kamala Harris' Sneakers?

The styles of women in key and powerful positions are always analysed in detail, something that doesn't always happen to men in the same (or even in more powerful) jobs. So, throughout history we learnt to dissect the messages behind Jackie Kennedy's wardrobe, or analyse the creations by the designers favoured by Michelle Obama. We have also learnt to interpret signals and symbolisms behind certain accessories – think for example about Madeleine Albright's pins (that ended up deserving a book and an exhibition) or U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's collars.

U.S. Democratic Senator from California Kamala Harris, who favours a casual style and usually wears pantsuits with sneakers, joins today this list after Joe Biden (to be formally nominated as the presidential candidate for his party at the Democratic national convention next week) announced today she will be his running mate.

Joe Biden shared the news writing on Twitter: "I have the great honor to announce that I've picked @KamalaHarris - a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants - as my running mate." 

You may argue that her appointment is not without controversy: Harris' presidential campaign was marred by factional fights between her divided staff, but also revealed structural issues. But Harris was also criticised for her political tactics and in particular for not choosing between liberals and moderates in the Democratic party; for her shifts in fights (from a tax cut for lower and middle-income voters to a pay raise for teachers) and for her indecision when it came to her position on healthcare (first supporting Sanders's Medicare for All bill against private healthcare, but then unveiling a plan that allowed private insurers to remain).

Last but not least, Harris recently showed interest on police misconduct, but in the past when she was attorney general, she avoided intervening in cases that regarded killings by the police, or seemed to maintain a cautious stance when it came to police violence.

Yet since then she seems to have changed (but, you may argue, America has changed as well...) moving towards a reform of the police six years ago when Michael Brown was killed by a police officer (an event that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement). Her interest in racial justice, police brutality and misconduct and criminal justice reform continued to grow and became more prominent after the murder in May of George Floyd. Her activism has made her more acceptable to those progressives who criticised her for being a centrist and a moderate.

The announcement was met with surprise by current US President Donald Trump, who called Harris "nasty" (in particular towards US Supreme Court Justice Kanavaugh accused in 2018 of sexual assault...), but the vice presidential nominee got a lot of support messages on social media from ordinary people, politicians and celebrities as well. 

She was praised also by Biden's former rivals, senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, while former US President Barack Obama tweeted, "I've known Senator @KamalaHarris for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job. She's spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. This is a good day for our country. Now let's go win this thing."

The news about Harris being Biden's running mate were considered as a beacon of hope, inspiring for all women and in particular for the Black community. Harris is indeed the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants and she is the first Black woman and the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for the position of Vice President on a major party ticket. Harris' candidacy is also groundbreaking as she is the second woman up for the job in 40 years, the first one was indeed Geraldine Ferraro, who was on the ticket with Walter Mondale in 1984. Choosing her means that Joe Biden acknowledges the fact that the Democrats need Black voters to win the White House and finally solve all the key issue Trump doesn't care about, from the Coronavirus pandemic to systemic racism, financial inequality, the struggling economy and the climate crisis.

Harris has the potential to stand up to Trump, since she is not intimidated by men like him (in 2019 she stated Trump reminded her of "that guy" in The Wizard of Oz, "when you pull back the curtain, it's a really small dude"). Harris' sharp prosecutorial skills and spontaneity, her manner with voters and that fierceness that she probably learnt from her times as a district attorney and attorney general, are definitely her strengths. Her tenacy and toughness genuinely seem to scare Trump who, as stated above, dubbed her "nasty" during a press conference, filing her under "the radical left" category that scares Republicans so much. 

Yet there is no sign of "nastiness" in Harris' look, a sort of uniform consisting in a pantsuit (or jeans and T-shirts with a blazer) often matched with sneakers, maybe a symbol of her dynamic approach to life and hinting at the fact that she would like to walk side by side with other people rather than rule them from above.

In interviews she often professed her love for Converse shoes, admitting she owns several pair of the popular sneaker and she has been emphasising the role of her shoes in her Tweets since 2016 when, on Election Day, she posted a picture of her feet stating "Got my comfy shoes on & ready to hit the ground to turn out the vote".

 

Harris often wears necklaces, mainly pearl ones and in June we saw her wearing another accessory, a kente cloth scarf, when Democratic lawmakers in US Congress took a knee in a tribute to George Floyd at Capitol's Emancipation Hall before presenting legislation to end excessive use of force by police across the States.

Harris is obviously not the first influential woman who prefers trousers to skirts and dresses, but her sneakers represent a different style choice compared to Hillary Clinton who has a passion for pantsuits as well, but tends to make them look more formal, matching them with feminine shoes. Harris' informal style choice definitely strikes a chord with ordinary people, but also embodies the dynamic qualities of casual American style. Her style also symbolises a transition, a shift from white man's America to a multi-cultural country in which the American dream is still possible. 

So could Harris' pantsuits and sneakers be a sign of change too for the United States? Well, it would be superficial to bet just on Harris' sneakers and reductive and offensive to talk about her views and politics through her wardrobe. But, for the time being, let's hope that Biden and Harris will put an end to the American nightmare of a presidency steeped in arrogance and hate with their political agenda, and, well why not, with a little help from the humble sneaker.

Tech Bias: What Happens When Your Algorithm is Racist

The algorithm is everything in our times. In the age of big data, automated algorithms that can help analysing large volumes of information in just a matter of seconds are the key to power.

But studies and researches carried out in the last few years proved that computerized algorithms often tend to favour one race over others. Yet it is also true that technology is not per se discriminatory and an algorithm is not "born" racist. Machine learning-based systems are indeed trained on the world we know and on the data they are fed. When an algorithm shows its "preferences" we talk about "algorithmic bias".

Sociologist Ruha Benjamin, highlights for example in her volume Race After Technology (2019) that robots (and technologies) can be racist as they are designed in a world drenched in racism, so they "learn to speak the coded language of their human parents – not only programmers but all of us online who contribute to 'naturally occurring' datasets on which AI learn." 

For example, if you consider how the Artificial Intelligence sector is dominated by men and that they are often white, you may easily come to one simple conclusion – they are the people who shape and inform this technology.

A quick example could be the algorithm Amazon experimented with a while back. The multinational company tried to employ Artificial Intelligence to create a tool to quickly screen resumes. While this was supposed to be an efficient way to scan job applications, it generated some controversies and Amazon stated it didn't use it in the end. The screening algorithm employed for this purpose was indeed trained on resumes the company collected for a decade, but they mainly tended to come from men, which meant the algorithm automatically learnt to exclude women (and you can discover more about algorithmically driven data failure specific to people of colour and women in Safiya Umoja Noble's Algorithmic Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism). 

There have been studies focused on racist algorithms in the health-care sector and, last October, one research revealed how decision-making software employed by some hospitals in the United States was discriminating against black patients with complex medical needs. In that case the algorithm showed favouritism towards white patients who were equally sick as the algorithm assigned black patients lower risk scores (according to one study 17.7% of patients assigned to receive extra care by the algorithm were black, but the research showed the proportion would reach 46.5% if the algorithm were unbiased). Other studies showed unfair and biased decisions carried out by algorithms in other fields, including criminal justice and education.

The latest example of algorithmic racism relates to fashion and occurred last week when Instagram banned a picture of model and influencer Nyome Nicholas-Williams by photographer Alexandra Cameron. Nicholas-Williams, 28, a plus-sized model who has worked for brands such as Adidas, Boots and Dove, has an impressive Instagram feed that she uses to spread body positivity and self-esteem.

In the picture taken by Cameron and banned by Instagram, Nicholas-Williams is portrayed with her eyes closed and arms wrapped around her breasts, looking like the portrait of bliss, something we genuinely need in our chaotic world currently gripped by the fear and anxiety of a global deadly pandemic.

Followers of the plus-size model loved the image and commented positively about it, but the post was taken down by the platform. Users complained and shared the censored photo of Nicholas-Williams under the hashtag #IwanttoseeNyome, and eventually the photo was restored. 

Now it is rather sad that a picture supposed to boost female self-esteem that wasn't even that revealing (no nipples in sight and nipples are the main cause of controversy on Instagram...), ended up being banned, while there are many pictures of scantily dressed thin white women (actresses, models, influencers and ordinary people) that were never the subject of any banning controversy. So in this case it felt as if the alghorithm, probably calibrated on white women with specific body standards, found a plus-size black woman's body offensive.  

The platform boasts over 15,000 people all over the world reviewing posts and trying to spot genuinely offensive materials, but Instagram has been often accused of discriminating against black people and even Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri admitted in June that the platform has to examine its "algorithmic bias", while Vishal Shah, the company's vice-president of product, announced in July that an internal Equity Team is working to eliminate any bias in their systems and policies. Yet, while the platform launched its #ShareBlackStories campaign to promote black voices, Instagram users are still reporting that their posts in support of Black Lives Matter are often suppressed and flagged as a political issue or as an election issue.

As stated above, Nicholas-Williams and Cameron (who has shot a series of beautiful portraits of the model that will hopefully become part of an exhibition or an art event) had their original posts from the shoot restored, but this is just a small victory as what happened to the model and the photographer is also happening to other users.

Mosseri recently posted on the social media platform a message stating the site stands "in solidarity with the Black community", and claiming they will be focusing on key points such as harassment, account verification, content distribution and algorithmic bias, starting with the Black community, and then trying to understand how to better serve other underrepresented groups, but it would be interesting to know (though impossible as nobody will ever reveal such data...) how specific algorithms behind these platforms are designed and, above all, what kind of data were employed to build and train them.

Will algorithms be able to perform fairly in future? Surely there will be ways to build fairer systems, maybe by experimenting more to find which variables cause bans and rerunning algorithms with other variables and with different datasets that could be suggested by a wider range of advisors (could we have for example Nicholas-Williams as one of the advisors suggesting variables?) from different backgrounds and communities (rather than just by a selected group of young white men...) who could work closely with people developing algorithms. Otherwise, such systems will continue to be absolutely accurate, but terribly unfair and unethical as well.

Vintage Trend from 1959: The Super Large Tote

Super large tote bags have been spotted on more than just one runway and lookbook in the last few seasons. You may for example remember Jacquemus's S/S 19 maxi straw bags, Opening Ceremony's super large tote (View this photo) or Moschino's Pre-Fall 2020 accessories. Yet this highly impractical trend that also inspired big bag memes, with dedicated Instagram accounts featuring bags digitally altered to gargantuan proportions, is nothing new, but comes and goes in fashion (as everything else, you may argue...).

In 1959, for example, the brand Rosa Bonheur launched an extra large bag with a colourful print of turquoise, green and fuchsia fish and sea urchins with a rope strap. It was conceived as a summer bag that could contain all the necessary items to go to the beach.

For the fans of the trend, the bag was also accompanied by a line of matching accessories, such as scarves, that allowed the fashionistas of the time to create a coordinated and fun look.

The Tech Cold War With Some Fashion Connections: Trump Vs TikTok & WeChat

On Thursday US President Donald Trump issued executive orders to ban the social media app TikTok. After 45 days, if the app is not sold by their Chinese-owned parent company, the order will stop "any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd." 

The video-sharing app came under fire over national security concerns: the order states indeed that TikTok "automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users", the collection of such data "threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information -- potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage."

The order also claims that the platform censors or disseminates content that the Chinese Communist Party deems sensitive, such as protests in Hong Kong, China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities and "debunked conspiracy theories about the origins of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus."

The deadline to find a US buyer for TikTok was set to September 15, after that date, the app will be shut down in the country. Trump also said (but the order doesn't state this) that a substantial amount of money from the deal would have to be sent to the US Treasury Department.

In a way, rather than being about protecting America, this move feels a bit more like a revenge: TikTok has indeed recently turned into an energetic platform for activism and in June users organised a stunt through the app, registering online for the free tickets to a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but then not turning up at the event that ended up being sparsely attended.

Microsoft is in talks to acquire the video-sharing app, but Trump also issued a similar order for WeChat, a popular texting app owned by Tencent, a China-based company.

This popular social media platform boasts over 1.15 billion monthly active users in China, its mini-programs are also increasingly used by retailers to sell their products. Most Western messaging apps are banned in China, but US-based WeChat users can employ it to make business transactions, transferring funds, advertise and reach out to friends and family in China, besides, the group chat is also used as an interface for other apps. 

The order states it will ban "any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd. (a.k.a. Téngxùn Kònggǔ Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), Shenzhen, China, or any subsidiary of that entity, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) under section 1(c) of this order."
Yet, as stated above, apart from being used to communicate WeChat is employed for business transactions, something that may end up damaging those users based in the US who employ it for this purpose. Damaging WeChat may therefore mean damaging further also the US economy.

The platform's parent company, Tencent (worth $490 billion, it is the second-biggest company in Asia by market value after Alibaba Group Holdings), invested indeed in several American companies such as Tesla, Reddit and Spotify and also owns shares of American Epic Games (maker of "Fortnite") and Riot Games (and also of Finnish Supercell, for what regards videogames; Tencent Holdings actually invested in hundreds of overseas-based companies).

Tencent was initially mainly interested in videogaming companies, but in the last few years it reshifted its focus also on retail and fashion as well, also thanks to the influence of WeChat.

Last July the Qingteng Club, a group affiliated with Tencent Holdings Ltd., organised an event in California for host executives and celebrities from the Chinese and US online video industries that coincided with VidCon, a convention for fans of online influencers. The main purpose of that event was to encourage more US social-media stars to do business in China (one of the event panels was entitled "How Tencent could help your influencers' businesses in China").   

In February, since Chinese buyers couldn't take part in the runways shows in Europe as their country was locked down because of Coronavirus (Italy went into lockdown shortly afterwards), the Italian Fashion Chamber launched the "China, We Are with You" initiative, 29 catwalk shows broadcast live from Milan in collaboration with Tencent, that were watched by 16 million users according to the organisers.

Around the same time, London-based fashion e-commerce platform Farfetch raised $250 million from Tencent and U.S. investment firm Dragoneer, money that the platform will use to expand in China. Through the investment, Farfetch hopes to increase the exposure of Western brands to Chinese consumers through the WeChat platform (mini-program operators sell goods from more than 80 luxury brands on the WeChat platform).

Last but not least, the partnership announced last November between Tencent and British luxury brand Burberry brought something innovative to Shenzhen, China's technology hub - the first luxury social store.

Opened at the end of July 2020, the store is based on the "phygital" experience as it combines the more traditional physical retail store environment with social worlds and immersive digital experiences. Burberry worked closely with Tencent to design the space: products are labelled with scannable QR codes and the codes unlock additional information and stories.

The retail environment also features a dedicated WeChat mini-program that offers special contents, personalisation and rewards through the Burberry social currency feature and even the store's cafe has a menu that evolves when customers engage with the WeChat mini-program, unlocking new menu items. 

There are more TikTok (around 80 million U.S. monthly users) than WeChat users in America, but by banning "any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd," as the order states, Trump may end up banning investments made by American companies in China, some of them linked with the fashion industry (see the Farfetch deal with Tencent and U.S. investment firm Dragoneer). Trump's executive order states that the apps from China threaten "the economy of the United States", but thinking about the deals and investments of US companies in China, you realise that the economy may genuinely be damaged not by Chinese apps but by Trump's orders. 

So what will happen in the future? Will it be possible to really ban TikTok and WeChat? Well, TikTok was banned earlier this year in India and it was forcibly removed from devices. But it may be even more difficult to do the same in the US, as Google, Apple and Microsoft, would have to enforce a ban and ensure users delete TikTok. Besides, there are companies in the US that collect more data from users, so if TikTok and We Chat are banned, then why not banning also Facebook?

So will Trump manage to enforce his order? We will have to wait till September to know, but, in the meantime, TikTok users are at work, thinking about ways to sidestep the ban and trick servers to make it look like they're browsing from other countries where TikTok is allowed.  

Do You Want Harry Styles' Cardigan? Just Make it, Says JW Anderson

The power of fashion and social media can be unpredictable and surprising: while rehearsing for his performance on NBC's "The Today Show" in February Harry Styles wore a multicolored JW Anderson cardigan.

Inspired by children's toys and colour books and characterised by a relaxed silhouette and a DIY mood that celebrates all the imperfections of knitting, the cardigan maybe represented for many Harry Styles fans not just a way to emulate their idol, but also the chance to feel more optimistic thanks to its bright and bold colours. 

Soon the design became an obsession on social media, in particular on TikTok with users embracing Harry Styles' JW Anderson cardigan challenge (with the hashtag #HarryStylesCardigan) and trying to recreate the rainbow-coloured knitted sweater or enlisting mothers, aunts and grandmothers to do it (and those who didn't manage to do so in real life made a digital version in the Nintendo Switch videogame "Animal Crossing: New Horizons").Impressed and humbled by this trend, J.W. Anderson commented on his Instagram page "it's so amazing the power of craft" and showed his appreciation by sharing the cardigan pattern (Download JWAnderson-Colourblock-Patchwork-Cardigan) and posting a tutorial video on YouTube that explains the various stitches. 

Up until a few decades ago it wasn't rare to find a pattern by a famous designer given for free with a magazine (a practice relaunched in the digital format by SHOWstudio's Design Download in 2002 an initiative that invites people to discover the technicalities of fashion), while some fashion houses also sold official patterns for practically functional designs.

So let's hope that, while JW Anderson's design has sparked one of the most popular trends on TikTok so far this year, the trend will not be temporary but it will also encourage further fashion houses to release original patterns for free every now and then.